A/N: Thanks to everyone for reading and most importantly reviewing! The reviews make me very happy and motivate me to keep writing.

Please note: Character thoughts are in italics.

Disclaimer: Nope, the turtles still aren't mine.

Chapter 2- Splinter's Pupil

Michelangelo couldn't remember the last time he had felt this happy as he bounced around the tunnels returning to the lair. After spending years living underground in the sewers of New York City, all the training, the endless hours of practice and lectures, now he was finally putting it to use and doing some good!

Mikey had thwarted the attempts of the Purple Dragons three times already. And it looked like he would be able to do so again tomorrow night. He had overheard two Purple Dragons talking and they said their next assignment would be tomorrow down by the docks.

Entering Master Splinter's room Michelangelo knelt before his sensei so that he could report about the Purple Dragon's upcoming job. After repeating the conversation he had overheard, the orange loving turtle walked into the living area and sat down on the couch. At first he grabbed one of the many books Master Splinter had given him to read. The Art of War. Boring. The Book of Five Rings. Boring. Seven Pillars of Wisdom. Boring. Michelangelo sighed as he picked up then put back each book. He never had any interest in reading these. The orange banded turtle knew that his sensei meant well, and understanding tactics and strategy was as important as physical skills when in combat. But Michelangelo was not a planner, he was a doer, and preferred to use his freestyle skills and natural speed and agility during a fight.

Deciding that today was not the day to read, he aimlessly began flipping through the channels. This was always the worst time of the day. The orange banded turtle had already put in his time from that morning's training session, plus a little extra due to sheer boredom. But there is only so much practice a ninja turtle can take. He really wished he had someone else his age around. Another turtle he could talk to, maybe even train with. Oh how much fun that would be!

Sinking deeper into the couch the nunchaku wielding turtle let his imagination wander as he thought about all of the fun he could have with a friend. It was lonely being the only mutant ninja turtle in the world. At least tonight he would have some excitement as he thwarted another one of the Purple Dragons missions.

It was finally time. Hun led the Foot Ninja as they began their operation down at the docks. The job was simple, just like the past few nights. Break into the ship and steal the technology slated for delivery. Like the Purple Dragons, the Foot Ninja responded to Hun's barked orders. So far, things were going according to plan. Yet tonight Hun was tense. He felt Leonardo's eyes on his back as he stood over his shoulder, in the shadows.

One of the things Hun hated most about the sword wielding freak was the silent treatment. The turtle never started a conversation or said more words than was absolutely necessary. His silence suggested to Hun that the freak thought that he was better than him. Hun was too low on the turtle's personal totem pole to interact with. And this always really pissed off the blonde giant. And now he was here, at his heist, judging him from the shadows. Hun finally decided to break the tension in the air.

"I've got everything under control freak. You can come out."

Leonardo had to suppress a smirk as he stepped into the light. He remembered the last time Hun had called him a freak. Leonardo was alone in the dojo, practicing his katas when Hun wandered in, buzzed from too much alcohol. It took Hun almost a month to recover from his injuries. The blond giant was being very bold to call the black turtle that again. Yet tonight was not the night to put Hun back in his place, it was more important that this latest mission was successful.

Leonardo crossed his arms in front of his plastron as he stood next to Hun, observing the Foot Ninja continuing to load the trucks with the stolen cargo. They were almost finished and it was beginning to look like their mystery foe wasn't going to show.

Suddenly Leonardo tensed as he felt a movement come from among the shadows. Before Hun could question him, he back flipped out of sight. As he approached the enemy the black masked turtle noticed the downed foot ninja along the way. Looks like someone else is used to operating in the shadows. Good, perhaps I'll have a real fight on my hands for a change. Letting a small smile slowly pass over his face, the black clad turtle silently pulled the swords from their sheaths on his back.

Michelangelo was focusing on taking down the pajama wearing ninja's as silently as possible. At first the orange banded turtle was surprised to find ninja's and not the Purple Dragons. But his excitement was soon tempered when the black robed ninja proved to be no bigger a challenge to the skilled turtle than the Purple Dragons had been. Different clothes, same folks. The turtle chuckled to himself as he continued to knock out the ninja's.

With no more targets left hiding in the dark, Michelangelo decided that tonight was the night that he would show the hulking blonde leader what he was really up against. Mikey jumped into the light, mere feet from the unsuspecting giant.

"What's the matter, no Purple Dragons wanted to come out and play tonight?" He began to taunt the surprised man.

"Leonardo, there's another freak for you to take care of!" A shocked Hun cried out.

The nunchaku wielding turtle became a whirlwind of fists and wood as he began to take out the remaining foot ninja one by one. Leonardo, who the shell is Leonardo?

Leonardo had never hesitated during a fight before tonight. But when the orange masked turtle jumped out of the shadows, and started taunting Hun, he froze. What the shell?

Recovering from the shock, he noticed that the turtle was quickly taking out the remaining Foot Ninja. And Hun was only a few minutes away from collecting the last of their stolen goods. It was time for Leonardo to intervene so that tonight's mission was completed successfully. With his swords already in his hands, he silently leaped from his place in the shadows, landing between Hun and the orange turtle.

When Michelangelo first arrived at the docks and saw black pajama wearing men instead of Purple Dragons attempting to steal the goods from the cargo ship, he knew that tonight was going to be different. But even in his wildest daydreams the energetic young turtle could never have imagined that tonight would turn out like this. The sudden appearance of the black masked turtle left the normally chatty reptile speechless. His thoughts however, were racing a mile a minute.

What the shell? Is that really? No it can't be. There's really another mutant turtle? No way, this is awesome!

With wide eyes Michelangelo lowered his hands. "Dude, you're just like me. What's your name? Where are you from? This is awesome!"

Leonardo remained still for a moment, puzzled by the youngster's excitement.

"Oh the strong silent type are you, well that's ok. I can do all the talking."

As the orange masked turtle began to shout one factoid about himself after another, the excitement pouring off of him in waves, Leonardo began to think that this turtle might have one or two screws loose. After all, Leonardo lived in a building with well over 300 Foot Ninja surrounding him and somehow this one turtle managed to be both noisier and more distracting than when all of the Foot Ninja were assembled for meal times. Yet all of the orange turtle's talking was good for one thing, it kept his opponents mind off of the Foot Ninja and Hun, who were quickly finishing up loading their stolen goods. With no weapons in the orange turtle's hands Leonardo put his swords away and rushed forward, knocking the turtle onto his carapace, hard.

Michelangelo's head hit the ground when he fell and he leapt up rubbing his head, annoyed. "Oww, dude what was that for?"

The black turtle's only response was to narrow his eyes dangerously at the startled reptile.

Wow this guy is really serious! There's got to be a way to get him to stop fighting and talk for a minute. Determined to keep trying, Michelangelo continued to press the issue. "Dude, have you looked in the mirror? We are both mutant ninja turtles. We're the same."

Quickly growing tired of the incessant chatter, Leonardo growled as he lunged forward to attack.

Michelangelo's retort was cut off as the wind was knocked out of him again. Leaping to his feet, he pulled out his nunchaku and started to reluctantly fend off the older turtle's strikes. Wow this guy is good!

When Leonardo saw the orange banded turtle finally pull out his weapons he almost smiled. Finally! At first the younger turtle's fighting style was exciting. This turtle was fast, agile and rather unpredictable. It was sort of like fighting an armed pinball. And the black masked turtle was up for the challenge.

But then the orange one kept getting distracted. And he KEPT ON TALKING! The lack of focus and incessant chatter allowed Leonardo to gain the upper hand. Soon he was overpowering the orange masked turtle, delivering one solid blow after another while doing so.

Michelangelo did not let his weakness stop his barrage of facts. If anything it only served as fuel for the excitable turtle to keep talking in an attempt to get his opponent to answer him. If only he could find something to spark this guy's interest in him. If he could just get him talking to him, instead of trying to continue pummeling him.

Leonardo looked out of the corner of his eye and saw that Hun had finished collecting the cargo and was starting to leave. The orange banded turtle had been so focused on chatting with his opponent throughout the fight that he failed to notice that Hun and the Foot Ninja's were leaving.

"Dude, just stop for a minute and talk to me. Aren't you even a little bit curious? What if we are brothers? Or at least we could become friends. Look at how alike we are! We even fight the same!"

Leonardo snorted at the rambunctious turtle's claim. He wasn't sure why, but something was holding him back from killing the talkative reptile. Instead the sword wielder took one final swipe at the pleading turtle before he leapt into the shadows. "We are nothing alike, Orange."

A/N: Poor Mikey, that first confrontation didn't go very well for him did it? Chapter three is coming up next, where we will find out what our red masked hothead has been doing. Until then, thanks for taking the time to read and please leave a review! Virtual hot chocolate with whipped cream and marshmallows to those who do!